Sometimes the habit is simply a question you want to get consistent at asking at the appropriate times. The right questions can unlock new insights and lead to huge opportunities. We’ve explored examples of these kinds of questions already:

• What does “done” look like?
• What does “amazing” look like?
• What is the next physical action that would move this forward?
• What kind of impact would I need to make in someone’s life for them to drop everything and go to my funeral?

There are other questions you can get in the habit of asking that are just as powerful. Questions you can use to coach yourself. Questions you can use to get more out of your team. Questions you can use to build deeper relationships. Examples include:

• What is this person hoping to get out of this meeting?
• What if you had to accomplish your 10 year vision in 6 weeks?
• What is the one thing that if I did it would make all these other things easier or irrelevant?
• What would have to happen between now and a year from now for you to be happy with this decision/engagement/project?
• If I wasn’t here, what would you do?
• If you knew the answer, what would it be?
• What advice would you give to a friend in your situation?
• Imagine having a dialogue with the wisest person you know or can think of. What would they tell you to do?
• What is the real issue?
• What is your commitment on a scale of 1–10 to doing it? What can you do to make it a 10?